a picnic and a hike through the woods

Yesterday was a gorgeous day outside, so Ben and I decided to spend it outside at a nearby park. On our drive out to the park I had to take this picture…

One of these days, I am going to take a drive through the countryside and just stop and take pictures whenever I see something I like.

The park we visited actually used to be someone’s private estate, so the grounds are full of lovely gardens and there is also an old mansion overlooking a pond/small lake. (I suppose what you would classify the body of water as probably depends on where you grew up. Around here I think people would call it a lake, but I don’t consider anything smaller than one of the great lakes a real lake.) There are also acres of woods with hiking trails, a river winding throughout the woods along the trails, and little gardens hidden in out of the way places.

We took a picnic lunch with us and ate lunch overlooking the pond and old mansion (which is a retreat center nowadays and while you can walk right up to it, you are unfortunately not allowed inside). After lunch we took a walk through some of the gardens on our way to the hiking trails. I almost got stung trying to take this picture:)

Wildflowers growing in bunches throughout the park…

Shadows in the 2-story gazebo (not sure if this is really the right term for it)…

After walking through some of the gardens, we took about a 4mile hike through the woods. We followed the trails that lead along the river, and got to see some birds enjoying the sun and water. There was also a really neat scenic overview with a bench that these steps lead up to…

After we left the park, we stopped in the small town that is near the park for another short walk (and ice cream, which we didn’t get because apparently small towns only take cash:) This house was along our walk and I thought the little round tower on the side of it was interesting…

All in all it was a good way to spend a nice spring day!